


Happy birthday, Keith!

by dorkygabriel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, a whole lotta platonic team love:')), bc in this fic shiro is actually nice to keith unlike the fake, i just want keith to be happy bc he deserves it, im also pretending shiro isnt a clone, keiths birthday!!, pretending that didnt happen tbh, this is set in s4 but before the last ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-22 00:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12469660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkygabriel/pseuds/dorkygabriel
Summary: Even though Keith's with the Blade of Marmora, the team is still going to celebrate his birthday.





	Happy birthday, Keith!

**Author's Note:**

> HOO BOY !! I LOVE KEITH !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH !!!
> 
> this is just a little fic i wanted to do for my sweet boy !!! its probably not the best bc the majority of it was written at 1am while i was super tired, but hey, i love keith so im posting it. also, the ending kinda sucks bc i suck at endings for short fics sorRY 
> 
> anyway. enjoy!

When Keith awoke, he knew what day it was. October 23rd. His birthday. He didn't really care much for it, but that was probably because he never really got to celebrate it. So, to him, it was pretty much the same as any other day of the year. In fact, for most of his life, no one knew his birthday. He was never in a rush to tell anyone, and he was never really had any friends close enough to tell anyway, so no one knew. Shiro was the only exception, but he didn't tell him, either. Actually, he tried to hide it. He'd never had a fuss on his birthday before, and he wasn't about to start after 16 years. But of course, Shiro found it through his Garrison records the second he shrugged off the question of when it was. So, for the next two years, Shiro made sure to get Keith a card, a small present and a cupcake. He knew Keith would never accept a big party with people he didn't speak to otherwise, but he still wanted to celebrate. However, Shiro didn't get to celebrate Keith's 18th because of the Kerberos mission. And now, Keith realised, he probably wouldn't celebrate his 19th, either, since he was with the Blade, and he couldn't be sure that Shiro even remembered his birthday.

 

"Keith," The familiarly low rumble of Kolivan's voice came through his door to pull him away from his thoughts. "It's time to leave."

Keith sighed a little, not realising he'd spent so long lost in his thoughts. He pulled himself out of his bed, quickly changing into his suit. Within a few minutes, he was out of his room and heading down to the main room where Kolivan and a few other Blade members were waiting, already discussing their plans for the day. Keith walked over to stand by them, listening to try and catch himself up with what he'd missed. After a few minutes, though, the hologram which displayed the map they were looking at flickered. All of them seem confused, and were almost ready to take action, until Allura appeared on the screen, smiling brightly.

"Kolivan, Blades." She greeted. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but I have to ask a favour."

"What's wrong?" Kolivan asked, calm as usual.

"I was hoping it would be okay for Keith to return to the castle for today. We have an emergency, and we need him."

Keith furrowed his brows, his gaze going from Allura to Kolivan, who nodded. "That's fine. We only have an intel mission today, he can sit it out."

Allura's smile grew. "Thank you!"

And with that, her broadcast cut off and the map flickered back into view. Keith's gaze stayed on Kolivan for a minute, because he seemed slightly too eager to let him go off. He tried not to overthink it, though, because he knew Allura would only ask him to come back if there was something desperately important. Besides, he couldn't deny that he really did miss the team, so seeing them, emergency or not, would be amazing. After getting a nod of final approval from Kolivan, Keith reciprocated and headed out of the room. He did speed up a little once out of sight of the Blades, a small smile playing at his lips as he hopped into a fighter, leaving their current base and soaring towards the castle.

The journey didn't take too long, the castle being relatively close by. Once Keith flew in, he got out of his fighter and smiled, the familiar castle walls being something he didn't realise he'd miss so much. Not wanting to waste time, he jogged through the long corridor, on a bee line to the bridge, where he assumed they would all be if they were holding some kind of emergency meeting. So when he excitedly walked in, ready to see his team again but was met with an empty room, he was confused, and the slightest bit disheartened. The smile on his face fell, but he walked inside nonetheless. Did he miss the meeting? Did something happen? He looked around the room, before spotting a folded up piece of paper. Since it was the only clue around, he walked over and bent down to pick it up off the floor.

_'Keith. We figured you'd come here. We had to hold our meeting in the lounge instead, hurry!'_

Though that was slightly odd, he shrugged and left the room once more, tucking the note into his pocket. His spirits managed to lift back up now he knew everyone was still here, and as he reached the lounge he stopped outside of the doors for a moment. He felt the smallest bit of anxiety in the bottom of his stomach, but he swallowed it down before taking in a deep breath and stepping closer to the doors to trigger the automatic opening system.

He expected to see everyone stood around, discussing important matters, maybe giving him some kind of greeting, but expecting him to hop into the conversation. What he didn't expect, was this. Some kind of materials were strung up around the room, there was a table set up with an array of food, music was playing softly in the background, and everyone was looking over at Keith, grins spread wide across their faces, with what seemed to be party hats on their heads. Keith's eyes widened and he stared at them all, too shocked to say anything.

"Surprise!" They all called in unison, before Shiro took a step forward, a dorky smile on his face.

"You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

That brought Keith out of his shock induced haze and he laughed, walking into the room. "You guys.."

Suddenly, everyone was rushing towards him for a group hug, though there was a lot less tears than last time. Until Keith heard Hunk sniffle. Okay, a lot less _sad_ tears than last time. Keith's smile beamed as they all hugged, but after a minute they broke away. Birthday greetings didn't end there, though, as before he could stop him, Lance was putting a birthday hat on his head, laughing as he did so. Keith rolled his eyes, but made no attempt to take it off.

"Alright, alright, let's give him room to breath." Shiro pushed everyone away a little, though it was clear it wasn't a serious telling off.

"Happy birthday, Keith." Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder.

"Thanks, Shiro. You've stepped up your game this year." He teased, nodding to the set-up.

"Well, there's people you actually speak to that I can invite to a party this time." Shiro smirked, giving him a playful shove. "It's good to have you back for a bit."

"It's good to be back."

"Keith!" Hunk called from across the room, beckoning him over.

Keith flashed Shiro a grateful smile before walking over to Hunk, who was stood with Lance.

"Dude, you've gotta try one of Kaltenecker's milkshakes." Lance picked up a glass, handing it over. "Freshly milked by yours truly, and Hunk did the shake part."

Keith took the glass, taking a small sip. He looked deep in thought for a second, before raising an eyebrow. "Chocolate?"

Hunk grinned. "Yeah! Told you, Lance! It _does_ taste like chocolate!"

Lance shook his head. "No way! That's probably just his weird alien taste buds."

Keith laughed, continuing to drink the milkshake, happily listening to the two of them debate the flavour of the drink. He'd definitely missed this. Though he'd only been gone for a few weeks now, it felt like a lifetime. Sure, this kind of nonsense bickering (and the off handed insult) annoyed him a bit when he heard it every day, but now, it was like it was the best thing he'd ever heard.

"Anyway," Lance raised his voice a little. "Let's agree to disagree. We're boring the birthday boy." He pointed at Keith, who blinked.

"What?"

"Exactly." Lance huffed, though he smiled. "So, how's the Blade treating you?"

"Pretty good. Not Voltron, but good." He smiled, and realised he was doing that a lot today. More than he expected.

"Nothing beats Voltron!" Hunk said proudly, puffing out his chest a bit.

"It is the most powerful weapon." Keith agreed, earning him a laugh from the two.

Allura called for everyone's attention, and everyone was quick to turn and look over at her. "Isn't it time we give Keith his gift?"

"Right!" Pidge perked up and rushed off to get it, having clearly been in charge of that part. It wasn't long before she came back, running over to give the wrapped present to Keith.

He took it, and everyone crowded round to watch him open it. He carefully pulled off the wrapping, and saw what looked like the back of a photo frame. He flipped it over in his hand, and looked at the photo. It was a picture of all them, and they were all making silly faces at the camera. Keith laughed softly, a warmth filling his chest.

"It's so we're always with you, even if you're with the Blade and don't see us for a long time." Allura smiled.

Keith, admittedly, got a bit choked up. This was probably the best gift they could've ever given him. They were his family, and choosing to leave had been a tough choice, but one he thought was for the best. He missed them every day he was away, so to have this photo with him meant he could always be reminded of the dorks they are. He wiped his eyes, looking up at them.

"Thanks, guys. I love it."

"Keith, nooo!" Hunk wrapped his arms around him tightly, lifting him off the ground a little. "You're not supposed to cry! If you cry, I'll cry!"

"It's a happy cry!" Keith clarified.

Hunk put him down, satisfied with that response, but hugged him for a second longer. Then, Shiro decided they should all get some food, so they moved over to the table put out. Everyone happily dug into the different dishes made, laughing and joking with each other as they ate. A bit later on, Allura and Shiro excused themselves for a moment, and as they were gone, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk looked expectantly at Coran. After a second, he caught on and went to get something.

"We already gave you your main gift, but we got you something else." Hunk began.

"This is something you'll actually get use out of." Pidge continued on for him.

"But you can't tell Shiro or Allura. They would kill us." Lance joined in, dramatically running his finger across his neck for a visual aid.

Coran walked back over, handing Keith a new, shiny knife. He twirled it around in his grip to get used to it, and then noticed that it had 'K.K - Red paladin' engraved into it. He looked up at them with a grin, and continued to show off with a few knife tricks he'd already learnt from training with the blade.

"It's amazing. Thanks again, guys."

The doors began to slide open, meaning Shiro and Allura were back, so Keith quickly put away his new knife and looked over to them. Coran dimmed the lights as they walked in, which meant the lit candles atop what looked like a birthday cake shone brightly. All of them began to sing happy birthday to him as Shiro and Allura brought the cake over and set it down in front of him. As they all sang to him, he blushed lightly, not used to being the centre of attention in such a positive way. Trying to distract himself from the attention, he realised Coran and Allura were singing too. Oh, how he wished he could've been there to watch the others try and teach them the song. Once they finished, he closed his eyes and blew out the candles, earning a round of cheers from everyone. 

"What'd you wish for?" Lance asked, reaching over to nudge him. Keith just smiled.

The only thing he could possibly think to wish for was that these people stay in his life for as long as possible. He loved them. They are his family, no matter how far apart in the galaxy they are. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked that!!! all i want in life is for keith to be happy, pls @ dreamworks, pls. 
> 
> comments and kudos would be super appreciated!!<3


End file.
